Voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, defeat measure to limit abortions

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Voters in Albuquerque
defeated a proposal on Tuesday that would have outlawed most
late-term abortions in New Mexico's largest city in the first
test of such a measure on a municipal ballot in the United
States.

The measure, which would have barred doctors within city
limits from performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy,
unless a mother's life was in danger, was rejected 55 percent to
45 percent.

Abortion rights advocates hailed the outcome as a victory
against out-of-state anti-abortion activists seen as
spear-heading an initiative.

Supporters of the measure predicted that similar proposals
would gain ground in other cities and states across the country.
The proposed 20-week cutoff on abortions in the Albuquerque
measure allowed for few of the exemptions permitted in most
late-term abortion bans enacted in other states in recent years.
It contained no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, and
would have waived the ban only to save a mother's life or if
continuing her pregnancy risked "substantial and irreversible
physical impairment of a major bodily function."

A record number of city voters were reported to have cast
early ballots in the special election.

And an unusually high overall turnout was expected due to
the controversial nature of the measure, said by those on both
sides of the campaign to mark the first proposed abortion
restriction submitted to voters in a U.S. city.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in
1973, but ruled that unless the mother's health were at risk,
states could place restrictions on abortion at the point when a
fetus could potentially survive outside the womb, generally seen
as starting at 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.

A full-term pregnancy typically is about 40 weeks, and
abortions after 20 weeks are rare.

Still, abortion opponents have pushed the boundaries of the
landmark Roe v. Wade decision in recent years by seeking to
curtail abortions at earlier stages of pregnancy.

The Albuquerque measure was patterned after restrictions
enacted by a dozen states based on hotly debated medical
research suggesting a fetus feels pain starting at 20 weeks of
gestation.

Two of those states, North Dakota and Arkansas, went further
by also recently banning abortion as early as six and 12 weeks,
respectively. Those more restrictive bans have been put on hold
by courts. Courts have likewise blocked 20-week abortion bans in
Arizona, Georgia and Idaho.

Albuquerque is home to two of the few facilities in the
region that perform late-term abortions - the Southwestern
Women's Options clinic and the University of New Mexico Center
for Reproductive Health.

Their existence has led abortion foes to refer to
Albuquerque as the "late-term abortion capital of the country"
and to target the city for the municipal ban, said Elisa
Martinez, executive director of the group Protect ABQ Women and
Children, which supports the measure.

Julianna Koob, legislative advocate for Planned Parenthood
of New Mexico, agreed that the two clinics had drawn patients
from around the region because "access has been so severely
impacted in other cities."

"Not only have out-of-state, out-of-touch groups failed to
impose their political agenda on Albuquerque families, they
created an army of New Mexicans passionate about protecting
private medical decisions between a woman and her doctor," Koob
said Tuesday night.

The Reverend Frank Pavone, national director of the group
Priests for Life, countered that "pro-lifers in Albuquerque and
elsewhere should not feel discouraged," adding, "We will see to
it that this effort is introduced in other cities and states."

Before the vote, New Mexico's attorney general, Gary King,
had called the proposed measure "unconstitutional and
unenforceable."

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a law professor at the University
of New Mexico, said abortion regulations as allowed under Roe v.
Wade were regarded as a matter for the states, not local
governments, to decide.